Record tape advancing device



h 2, 1 4 1A. SPENCER ETAL 2,

RECORD TAPE ADVANCING DEVICE Filed Oct. 22, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN OR JAMES A b E/ Jgw /wfs c. w w/c/r, we.

Ai'roRNEY Oct. 12, 1948. J. A. SPENCER ETAL RECORD TAPE ADVANCING DEVICE Filed Oct. 22, 1945 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 III 411ml NVENTORS JAMESA SPF/V652,

A'TI'ORNEY Ct 112, 1948, J SPENQER E ZASLBfiE RECORD TAPE ADVANCING DEVICE Filed Oct. 22, 1943 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 12, 1948 2,451,365 RECORD TAPE ADVANCING DEVICE James A. Spencer, Teaneck, N. 1., and James 0.

Warwick,

v Jr., Beechhurst, Long assignors to Radio Corporation corporation of Delaware Island, N. Y., of America, a

- Application October 22, 1943, Serial No. 507,272

I 6 Claims.

This invention relates to telegraphic tape printing mechanisms and more particularly to means for advancing the record tape.

An object of the invention is to provide a mechanism for ejecting from the tape printing recording machine a predetermined length .of record tape in addition to the amount normally fed or j paced out through the action of the tape adancing mechanism for visual inspection of a ecord following a recording operation of the printing mechanism without opening or disturbing the tape printing mechanism.

f A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanical interlocking arrangement of such .design that but a single space-out operation following a recording cycle may be accomplished,

,and also to provide a means for automatically restoring the space-out mechamsm to an operable condition during the next succeeding recording cycle.

The tape advance or space out mechanism of this invention is intended to operate in conjunction with the tape printer recording machine disclosed in Spencer U. S. Patent No. 2,431,651, granted November 25, 1947, and Reinhold, U. 5. Patent No. 2,429,136, granted October 14, 1947, in which the motor shaft and main gear rotate continuouslyand the main recording shaft, having the recording characters located thereon, is driven through a friction clutch. This arrangement permits the main recording shaft to be held in a static condition except during a recording cycle.

This invention will best be understood by referring to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the mechanism of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an end sectional elevation of Fig. 1, the section being taken on line 2--2;

Fig. 3 is a partial side elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a detailed plan view of the trip lever; and Fig 5 is a perspective view of the space-out tape feed wheel mechanism.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the

mechanism of this invention comprises a base I upon which is mounted an upright 2 which is split at the upper portion thereof at 3. A ballbearing 4 is retained at the central portion of the upright bearing plate 2 by means of an upper portion 5 of the upright 2. The upper portion 5 is secured to upright 2 by means of two bolts 6. A main recording shaft 1' is arranged to rotate on ballbearing 4. At the far end of shaft 1 there is located the recording disc (not shown) which ton manually operated is disclosed in Spencer U. 8. Patent No. 2,431,851. The end of the main recording shaft I, opposite the recording disc, has located thereon a large spur gear 8 which meshes with a pinion gear 3. Gear 9 drives a motor driven and clutch shaft I I. The intermittent rotation of the main recording shaft 1 is governed by a friction clutch consisting of discs 8A and 8A and a spiral clutch spring 38. This clutch arrangement exerts pressure against the sides of gear 8 and thus applies torque to the shaft I. The clutch disc 8A and the spring .3 are actuated by an electromagnet (not shown) to rotate shaft 1 when a record is being recorded, and releases it at the end of the recording. A first cam II is located on and secured to the forward portion of shaft 1 intermediate ballbearing 4 and gear 8. Cam II positively holds shaft 1 stationary when no record is being made. A second cam I2 is fixedto floating sleeve IIA, which has an extending slotted portion I013, and which is arranged to float freely on clutch shaft III. Cam I2 positively holds a gear I3 stationary when a record is being made. The gear I3 is fastened to floating sleeve IUA. A second sleeve I4 also floats on shaft I0 and has tongue A which engages the slotted portion IOB on sleeve I 0A. The end of sleeve I4 opposite the tongue I 4A is provided with driven clutch ratchet teeth I6. Intermediate the tongue HA and teeth I there is located a cam profile I5 which is secured to rotate with second sleeve I4.

The driving clutch teeth I! are formed on a collar I l which is secured to driven motor and clutch shaft III by means of bolt III. A spring "A urges clutch teeth I6 to engage with clutch driving teeth I1. As shown by Fig. 2, a cam foilower I9 is pivoted on a stud 20 which is secured to upright 2 by stud 20A. Cam follower II has an engaging stud ISA which is located intermediate cams II and I2 for alternately engaging the peripheries of the cams. At the lower end of cam follower I9 there is fastened, by means of screws 2I, a cam follower extension member or blocking lever 22.

On the base I there is pivoted at 23A a trip lever arm 23 which is slotted at 24 for engaging a stud 25. The stud 25 is fastened to a push butshaft 26, the shaft 2. being supported on base I by means of two angular shaped uprights 21. The uprights 21 are provided with screws 28 for fastening them in position to base I. A helical compression spring 29 is provided to, keep the manually operated shaft 26 in its forward position. A push button is threaded on to the forward end of shaft 2|.

' A trip bell crank 32 As shown by Figs. 3 and 4, a slotted and an inclined cam surfaced trip lever 3| is pivoted to the extreme left hand end of the trip lever arm 23 by means of a pivot 3|C on block IIA and is urged to normally rest in a horizontal position by flat spring 3|B. The lever 3| has raised edges 3|E and 3|! located on each side of the slot.

and clutch pawl 33 are supported above the slotted portion of trip lever 3| by means of an upright angular bent plate 34. A pivot screw 32A fastens the trip bell crank to upright plate 34. The upright plate 34 is secured to base by means of a block-34A and screws 343. An extension portion 35 on plate 34 supports trip bell crank 32 and also a stop screw 38.

"A support rod 31 extends out from upright plate 34 and has pivoted thereon the clutch pawl 33 which is arranged in position so that its extending arm 33 will engage the head of a bolt 33 secured to the upper end of bell crank 32. A nut 40 and washer 4| retains clutch pawl 33 in its pivoted position on the end of support rod 31'.

A tooth clutch idler l3 and is supported on a shaft 43 which is secured to an upright member 44, the upright 44 being fastened to base I by means of a plurality of screws 43. A gear 46 is secured to a tape feed shaft 41 for rotation therewith. An escapement disc 88 is fixed to the gear 48 and carries a push type pawl 46A which is arranged to drive a toothed escapement ratchet 43B fixed to the tape feed shaft 41, the arrangement being such that when shaft 41 is driven by the tape step-by-step feed mechanism partly shown by Fig. the escapement pawl 46A rides over the teeth of escapement ratchet 48B. But when the tape advance mechanism herein described is permitted to operate, shaft 41 is driven by means of the engagement between escapement pawl 46A and the teeth of the escapement ratchet 483. Tape feed shaft 41 is secured for rotation on upright bearing plate 2 by means of a bearing 43. The extreme end of shaft 41 is provided with the tape feed wheel 50, aratchet 80A and a pawl 803. The pawl 50B is of the hook or pull type and is actuated by a stepby-step tape feed lever 50C and a spring 30D. A tension wheel rides over the top of the tape. An arm 1| supports wheel 18 in position on member 2. Tension for the tape feedis applied to the wheel 10 by means of spring 11A.

A detent 5| is pivoted, as shown in Fig. 2, by means of a pivot-support stud 52 on bearing plate 2 and is positioned so as to cooperate with cams II and i2 and cam follower l8. A spring 33 keeps detent 5| in proper engagement and has its extreme end fastened to hearing plate 2 by means of stud 54.

An inked ribbon 83 passes over the paper tape 8| andis wound upon two spools 82, only one of which is shown in Fig. 2. The motor driven and clutch shaft Ill is provided with a flexible coupling member 55 which engages a similar coupling member which connects to an electric motor (not I shown) for driving this mechanism. A block 18 serves as a limit for the upward travel of trip lever 3|.

gear 42 meshes with gear In the operation of this device, if, for example,

one considers a normal record tape recording operation to be completed, the. tooth clutch I6 is held disengaged by means of pawl 33 resting 'against the bulged portion of the cam profile l5 and at this time the main tape recording shaft 1 is at rest because of clutch 8A being released. The stud |9A occupies a position in the notch or slot of the lower cam |2, as shown by the full lines in Fig. 2. The blocking lever 22 out of the path of the inclined surface 3|! of the trip lever 3|.

whenever itis desired to inspect a record which has been previously recorded, push button 38 is manually operated, which in turn (through the action of stud 25 and rod 28 moving toward the upright 21) rotates lever 23 around its pivot 23A, thus causing trip lever 3| to rotate about a pivot 3 IC and the high point 3 IE oi the trip lever 3| to engage the lower end of trip bell crank 32. This action momentarily depresses the arm 38 of pawl 33 which disengages the cam profile i3, and in so doing releases thedriven clutch member i8. The spring "A then urges the ratchet clutch teeth l8 to engage the other half of the ratchet clutch teeth II. The shape of the cam profile i8 is such that clutch pawl 33 engages the cam periphery again after the record has been inspected and automatically disengages the clutch teeth i8 again upon the completion of one complete turn of sleeve |8A ongclutch shaft i8. As'the gear l3 rotates by the engagement of teeth |3 and i1,

gears 42 and 48 rotate with shaft ill. The driving member of escapement disc 60 is fixed to gear 46 and its associate ratchet to shaft 41, so that when gear 48 rotates, the tape feed shaft 41 and )its associate feed-wheel 58 rotate with it and thus space out or, in other words, unwind a predetermined amount of recorded tape. This will be of sufficient length to inspect the previous printed record.

During the above mentioned spaced out operation of the mechanism of this invention, as shown by the broken lines in Fig. 2, the cam follower la is forced by cam i2 into the notch of cam ii and is held in this upward position by detent 5|. This change in the position of cam follower l9 moves the blocking lever 22 immediately over the inclined cam surface of trip lever 3|, so that when trip lever 3| is moved to the left by operating push button 39 (as shown by the broken lines in Fig. 3), its right-hand end is forced down toward base i as the inclined surface 3 IF rides under the end of blocking lever 22, preventing the engagement of trip lever 3| with the trip bell crank 32.

The interlocking arrangement is such that so long as blocking lever 22 remains in the aforestated or spaced out position, clutch pawl 33 cannot be disengaged from its associate clutch member by operating push button 30, a. second time. In this spaced out position cam follower stud |3A remains locked in the notch or slot of cam (sh-own by the broken lines) until after this cam, which is fixed to the main recording shaft 1, makes one revolution and, in so doing, moves cam follower stud |9A into the notch of cam i2, thus conditioning the recording device to operate as before. With the interlocking mechanism cooperating with shafts 1 and i8, only one continuous length of about four inches of tape may be fed or spaced out between any two recording cycles. This is accomplished principally by means of lever l3 which, when moved out of engagement with cam during a recording cycle, swings its extension 22 out of the path of the toothed clutch releasing mechanism. This condition remains until it is desired to again run out a continuous length of tape. Then the toothed clutch releasing mechanism is again operated by push button 38. The second or lower cam i2 is permitted thus to make one revolution and in doing so returns lever l3 to its former engagement with the first cam ii and extension 22 into the path of clutch is moved releasing mechanism. This condition makes the clutch or space out releasing mechanism inoperative until after another recording cycle has been completed.

The space out mechanism including disc 60, ratchet 46B and pawl 48A, is so arranged that it cooperates with shafts l0, and 41 as follows: During a normal recording cycle the toothed clutch I6 is disengaged and the tape is advanced step-by-step by means of the second ratchet 50A and pawl 50B, shown by Fig. as being located at the end of shaft 41. Shaft 41 turns but the first escapement pawl 48A rides over the sloped backs of the escapement ratchet teeth 463. Thus no motion is imparted to gears 46, 42 and i3. 0n

the other hand when rod 26 is pushed in for spacing out the tape, the toothed-clutch i1 is engaged. This action causes gears i3, 42 and 46 to be coupled with shaft Hi. The shaft I0 then drives the escapement pawl 46A against the front of an escapement ratchet tooth 463, thus imparting continuous rotation to shaft 41.

While we have indicated and described a mechanism for carrying our invention into effect, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that our invention is by no means limited to the particular devices shown and described, but that many modifications may be made without departing from the scope of our invention.

What we claim is:

1. A printing tape space-out mechanism for tape printers comprising a tape feed wheel, a driven rotatable sl aft, a recording shaft coupled to said driven rotatable shaft, a tape feed shaft secured to said tape feed wheel, clutch means coupled to said tape feed shaft to intermittently couple it with said driven rotatable shaft to space out a predetermined length of tape, and means including a cam on said clutch means and a clutch pawl adapted to engage said clutch means for uncoupling said recording shaft from said driven rotatable shaft when th clutch means on said tape feed shaft causes it to be coupled to said driven rotatable shaft.

2. A printing tape space-out mechanism for tape printers comprising a tape feed wheel, a driven rotatable shaft, a recording shaft coupled to said driven rotatable shaft, a first cam secured to rotate with said recording shaft, a second cam coupled to intermittently rotate with said driven rotatable shaft, a cam follower positioned between said cams to alternately engage the peripheries thereof, means to alternately retain said cams in a, static condition, a, tape feed shaft secured to said tape feed wheel, clutch means to intermittently couple said tape feed shaft with said driven rotatable shaft to space out a predetermined length of tape, and means including a cam on said clutch means and a clutch pawl adapted to engage said clutch means for uncoupling said recording shaft from said driven rotatable shaft when the clutch means for intermittently coupling said tape feed shaft causes it to be coupled to said driven rotatable shaft.

3. A telegraphic tape advance mechanism comprising a tape feed member, a driven rotatable shaft, a recording shaft coupled to said driven rotatable shaft, a clutch member surrounding said driven rotatable shaft, manual means for disengaging said clutch member, a tape feed shaft secured for rotation with said tape feed member, clutch means coupled to said tape feed shaft to intermittently couple it with the clutch member on said driven rotatable shaft to space on? a predetermined length of tape, and means including a cam on said clutch means and a clutch pawl adapted to engage said clutch means for uncoupling said recording shaft from said driven rotatable shaft when the clutch means on said tape feed shaft causes it to be coupled to said driven rotatable shaft.

4. A tape advance device comprising a tape recording mechanism including a tape step-by-step advance mechanism coupled to said tape recording mechanism to advance said tape as said recording mechanism is actuated to mark a record thereon, means to disengage said step-by-step tape advance mechanism after said record is marked, a device to advance said tape a predetermined amount after said tape has been marked with a record thereon, and means to prevent the movement of said step-by-step mechanism when said tape is advanced a said predetermined amount to observe said marked record.

5. A tape advance mechanism comprising a plurality of rotatable shafts, one of said shafts serving as a driven rotatable shaft, another one of said shafts serving as a recording shaft which is coupled for intermittent rotation with said driven rotatable shaft, means to rotate said shafts, a system of gears surrounding said first mentioned driven rotatable shaft for intermittent rotation therewith. a first cam secured to rotate with said recording shaft, a second cam secured to one of the gears of said gear system to intermittently rotate with said driven rotatable shaft, a cam follower positioned between said cams to alternately engage the peripheries thereof, means to alternately retain said cams in a static condition, a profile cam secured to one of said gear members, a clutch associated with said profile cam, a bell crank for operating said clutch, means for manually operating said bell crank for disengaging said clutch from rotation with said driven rotatable shaft, and an escapement mechanism including a pawl and ratchet for disengaging said recording shaft when said tape is advanced.

6. A tape advance mechanism comprising a plurality of rotatable shafts, one of said shafts serving as a driven rotatable shaft, another one of said shafts serving as a, recording shaft which is coupled for intermittent rotation with said driven rotatable shaft, means to rotate said shafts, a system of gears surrounding said first mentioned driven rotatable shaft for intermittent rotation therewith, a first cam secured to rotate with said recording shaft, a second cam secured to one of the gears of said gear system to intermittently rotate with said driven rotatable shaft, a cam follower positioned between said cams to alternately engage the peripheries thereof, means to alternately retain said cams in a static condition, a profile cam secured to one of said gear members, a clutch associated with said profile cam, a bell crank for operating said clutch. means for manually operating said bell crank for disengaging said clutch from rotation with said driven rotatable shaft, a detent for engaging said cam follower, and an escapement mechanism including a pawl and ratchet for disengaging said recording shaft when said tape is advanced.

JAMES A. SPENCER. JAMES C. WARWICK. Js.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PA'TEZ-ITS Name Date Haslund et Ma 30, 1939 N umber 

